Rain-signal.



A. T E TLAK. RAIN SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25,1914.

1 1 ammo I Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

A. TETLAK.

RAIN SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1914.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

tion and accompanying drawings,

ALEXANDER TETLAK, F STAPLETON, NEW YGRK.

RAIN-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916..

Application filed November 25, 1914. Serial No. 874,047. 7

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDER Tn'rLAK, asubject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at Stapleton, in thecounty of Richmond and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Rain-Signals; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and

i exact description of the invention, such as him of the condition abovementioned.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forthin the following specificain which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a rain signal constructed in accordancewith this in vention, Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of Fig. 1illustrating the interior mechanism, Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2illustrating in detail the paper guide and plunger, big. at is an endview of the device showing the same applied to a door or similarsupport, and Fig. 5 is a view of a modiiied form of the deviceillustrating the same to be used in connection with an electricalcircuit and bell.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1designates as an. entirety the signal which is held in place by means ofthe brackets 2 and 3. The bracket 2 is designed to fit over a door asshown in Fig. t and hold the back end of the casing elevated, while thebracket 3 is arranged to support the opposite end of the casing in aplane slightly lower than the bracket 2. The casing hereinbeforereferred to comprises the end walls 1 which. are provided at theirupper'ends with the integral triangular extension 5 which cooperates iith the extension 6 in forming a support for the trough 7. This trough 7is formed by the top wall 8 which inclines downwardly to conform to theinner face of the triangle 5, and this wall is continued and bentupwardly to conform to the extension verative position.

coiled about the pivot pin 2% and is designed 6. The top wall 8 isprovided at its lowermost point with the aperture 9 and is provided withthe end closure 10 as clearly shown in Fig. 1. A pair of side walls 11are secured to the end walls and to the top wall, and these side wallsare designed to complete the casing which is formed without a bottom.

Supported on the casing hereinbefore referred to is a bracket 12 whichis designed to support the bell 13 which bell is arranged to be struckby a clapper 14 which is controlled by the verge 15 which in turn isactuated by the ratchet wheel 16. This ratchet wheel 16 is mounted onthe shaft 17 and designed to rotate therewith and this shaft is providedwith a suitable spur gear which is designed to mesh with the gear wheel18 which is driven from a spring drum or any suitable mechanism. Whenthe spring drum is used the winding key 19 projects from the casing andis designed to permit the user to easily and quickly wind the device andthereby kEep the same operative. Projecting downwardly from the arm onwhich the clapper is mounted is the stem 20 which is provided at itslower terminal with the offset portion 21 the use of which will appearas the description proceeds.

The controlling mechanism for the bell clapper is best illustrated inFig. 2 and comprises the lever 23 which is pivotally mounted at 24 inthe bracket 25. This lever is preferably U-shaped in cross section toform a trough and is provided atone end with the thumb portion 26 and atits opposite end with the plate 27, which plate is of greater width thanthe distance between the arms of the U-shaped portion of the lever andis designed to engage the extension 21 to hold the verge and the clapperin inop- A suitable spring 28 is to exert pressure downwardly on theinner end of the lever and thereby normally tend to force the thumbpiece 26 upwardly. A suitable stem 29 is pivotally mounted onto thelever as at and projects upwardly through the aperture 9 formed in thecasing hereinbefore referred to. The upper end of this stem alsoprojects through an aperture formed in the bent back portion 31 of thepaper guide designated by the numeral 32 which is located at a pointslightly below the lowermost portion of the trough and proits , tactplates 33 and 38 jects slightly beyond the end of the casing and isdesigned to form a guide for the paper or similar fibrous material whichis easily affected by water.

In the modified form of the device the lever and paper guide areconstructed in essentially the same manner as previously described as inthe casing 1, but instead of the plate 27 secured to the lever there isprovided the contact plate 33 which is secured to the lever and spacedtherefrom by the fiber or similar insulating material 34:. This plate isprovided with a suitable binding post 35 by which the wire 36 isconnected thereto. Supported on the fiber or insulating material 37 is acontact plate 38 which is connected to the wire 39 which is to beconnected with the binding post 40 of the bell designated generally bythe numeral 41. The opposite binding post 42 of the bell is connected tothe wire 4-3 and this wire is connected to one terminal of the batterydesignated by the numeral 44, the opposite terminal of which isconnected to the wire 36, and it will thus be seen that when the conarein engagement the current will flow from the battery through the wiresand thereby ring the bell.

From the foregoing it will be clearly apparent that in use the devicemay be swung on a door or window by placing the hooks 2 and 3 over theupper edge thereof and when the same is closed it will be apparent thatthe casing will be supported on the eX- terior thereof. Should it startto rain the water will accumulate in the trough formed by the wall, 8and run down toward the aperture 9 and pass therethrough and onto theblotting paper thereby softening the same and permitting the plunger toslide upwardly thereby allowing the lever to pass upthrough the slot 45which is provided for that purpose. After the device has been operatedand it is desired to reset the same it may be removed and rewound by thekey 19 by pressing the lever downwardly and passing the same into thetransversely eX- tending portion of the slot 45 which is designated bythe numeral It will thus be seen that the lever will be held againstmovement and the device may remain wound until it is desired to be usedwhereupon the user again places a piece of blotting paper in the guideand allows the lever to be swung over so that it passes into the slot 45and the same operation is repeated. In event that the modified form ofthe device is used as illustrated in Fig. 5, it will be apparent thatupon upward movement of the lever, the contact plates 33 and 38 willform a contact and thereby complete the circuit through the bell thusgiving an audible signal.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changesmay be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as will fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. A device of the character described including atrough, said trough being lower at one end than the other, an endclosure at the lower end of the trough, the trough being provided withan aperture adjacent the end closure, a plunger slidable through theaperture, a guide supported immediately below the aperture, a lever atthe lower terminal of the plunger, said lever being arranged to controlthe sounding of an alarm, and a piece of relatively soft absorbentmaterial arranged to be held in the guide and between the upper end ofthe plunger and the underside of the trough to form a stop for theplunger.

2. A device of the character described including a casing, a troughformed by the casing, said trough being inclined and provided with anaperture near its lower terminal, a lever pivoted within the casing, aplunger carried by the lever and adapted to extend through the aperture,a spring tending to force the plunger upwardly and through the aperture,:1 guide supported immediately below the aperture, a strip of absorbentmaterial arranged to be held in the guide to form a stop for theplunger, and

means actuated by the upward movement ofthe plunger to set eration.

3. A device of the character described including a casing, hooksarranged to support the casing, a trough formed by the casing, the saidtrough being supported so that one end is lower than the other, a leverwithin the casing, the trough being provided with an aperture near itslower terminal, a plunger pivoted to the lever, said plunger beingarranged to slide through the aperture, a guide supported immediatelybeneath the aperture, a strip of absorbent paper ara signaling device inop- .ranged to be held in the guide, and means controlled by the upwardmovement of the lever to give an. audible signal.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER TETLAK.

Witnesses:

THOMAS J. HALL, HENRY JOSEPH Vnsrnn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D.

